GÖK MEDRESE İLAHİYAT ARAŞTIRMALARI 2 Ruh Ölüm Ve Ötesi Gök Medrese İlahiyat Araştırmaları -2- Ruh Ölüm Ve Ötesi
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GÖK MEDRESE İLAHİYAT ARAŞTIRMALARI 2 Ruh Ölüm ve Ötesi Gök Medrese İlahiyat Araştırmaları -2- Ruh Ölüm ve Ötesi Editörler Doç. Dr. Hasan Özalp Dr. Öğr. Üy. Abdullah Pakoğlu ISBN 978-605-2072-48-6 YAYIMCI Pikatron Medya Ltd. Şti. Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa Mh. No: 16 Vetro City Kat: 1/34 Esenyurt/İstanbul MATBAA 72 Tasarım Ldt. Şti. Sertifika No: 40022 YAPIM Pikatron Medya Ltd. Şti. Sertifika No: 33979 © Asitan | Eylül-2019 İstanbul WHAT DOES GÖBEKLİ TEPE, THE WORLD’S OLDEST TEMPLE, TELL US IN TERMS OF RELIGION AND THEOLOGY?1 Dr. Hasan ÖZALP2 ABSTRACT Göbekli Tepe is regarded as one of the oldest temples of the hu- manity according to archaeologs. In this work, by going back twelve thousand years, we will attempt both to provide information about this structure and to make interpretations by highlighting the theolog- ical and philosophical associations of this structure. In our study, we will examine Göbekli Tepe not from the perspective of archaeology and history of art but from that of philosophy of religion and religious symbolism. In our research, we benefit from the data of archeology and historical geography. The basic aim of this search is archaeological data that is obtained in the region and to evaluate these datas based on the historical geography and the history of religions. When it is, we have interpreted according to language of religion and religious symbolism. As a result, contrary to popular belief, we saw important reasons Göbekli Tepe area that is sacred structures, the people of the Stone Age is not primitive and faith is as old as humanity. We have reached the conclusion that must be rethought the development of hu- 1 This publication was previously published in Bilimname Journal (Volume and Issue XXX, 2016/1). It was then revised in light of subsequent developments, expanded and re-published in English. 2 Assoc. Prof. Dr., Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Faculty of Theology. ozalphasan66@gmail. com 160 Gök Medrese İlahiyat Araştırmaları / 2 man civilization on the Göebekli Tepe Temples. Our main objective is to connect Göbekli Tepe with philosophical and theological literature and to propose a method and subject as to how to accomplish this. Thus, our study is just an attempt at interpretation. Key Words: Temple of Göbekli Tepe, Stone Age, Religious Symbolism, Archaeology and Anthropology, Philosophy of Religion. Known as the fertile crescent, the Upper Mesopotamia spans the most ancient settlements of the human history. This area occu- pies Urfa and Harran regions in the southeastern part of our country. A student of Aristotle, Alexander of Macedonia named this place as Edessa to reminisce about the lands where he had grown up (Schmidt, 2007: 24). Urfa and Harran are two magical cities where religions and myths have emerged. This region is known by Anatolian people as the “city of prophets”. This is the region where many civilizations such as the archaic Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian and Chaldean states were established and collapsed. According to divine religions, Proph- et Abraham, who is regarded as the father of monotheistic faiths, lived in this region for seventy-five years (Genesis, 11/31-32; Gündüz, 2006: I, 54). The Romans named this region as Hellonopolis, meaning a pa- gan city (Weir, 1987: V-1, 299). This is because it is one of the most significant areas of settlement for paganism in Mesopotamia where temples devoted to Shamash, the solar deity, and Sin, the lunar deity (Şeşen, 1997: XVI, 237) are located. In addition, Sabians (Mandaeans), who are among the significant representatives of the gnostic belief, and who trace their creeds back to Prophet Adam (Karakaş, 2009: 38), lived in this region. Therefore, it is also possible to interpret the histo- ry of this region with reference to an earlier era when Prophet Adam, who is regarded as the first human being, was created, as this region also covers the Garden of Eden, which is mentioned in the Torah and where Prophet Adam was domiciled. The relevant passage from the Old Testament is as follows: “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden. And there he put the man (Adam) he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four head- Ruh Ölüm ve Ötesi 161 waters. The name of the first is the Pishon. It winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[a] and onyx are also there. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.” (Genesis: 2/8-14) It is understood from these statements that the Euphrates and the Tigris are rivers flowing from the Garden of Eden. In this context, we can trace the history of the region and, hence, of the people of the region back to much earlier times. Furthermore, it can be deduced that humanity originated from these regions and civilization started to overflow from the Near East. Today, the region spanning Urfa and Harran attracts the atten- tion of especially researchers in the fields of archeology and history of religions. Therefore, the region has been the subject of discussion in philosophy and theology in the context of interdisciplinary research methods. Archaeologists have previously performed research in the region and reached a dozen materials dating back to antiquity in lo- calities such as Nevali Çori and Gürcü Tepe (Schmidt, 71-102; Voigt, 2002: 274). Urfa museum also houses the world’s oldest statue “Urfa Man” or “Balıklıgöl Statue” shaped at the size of a human being. However, the actual distinctive excavation works have been conduct- ed in Göbekli Tepe locality, which is regarded as the ground zero of history. These excavation works led to discovery of data that would undermine many conceptions which were assumed to be true con- cerning the history of humanity and civilization. The data that have been unearthed would require reconsideration of the knowledge and belief traditions of the humanity. In fact, it was argued in archeolo- gy that in the Neolithic Age (New Stone age), i.e., 12 thousand years ago, humans could not make pottery yet, did not possess kiln-drying knowledge and led their lives based on hunting and foraging. How- ever, excavation findings have shown that this is far from the truth. 1. Göbekli Tepe Göbekli Tepe is 12 km far from Urfa, which is one of the archaic and mystical cities in history. The site was discovered by German ar- chaeologist Klaus Schmidt (1953-2014). According to Schmidt, the site 162 Gök Medrese İlahiyat Araştırmaları / 2 was not unknown, but it was not recognized, either. In addition, the excavation site is not a secluded area hidden in the midst of a valley; on the contrary, it is situated at the summit of the highest hill with a commanding view. Arriving at the site in 1994, Schmidt commenced excavations in 1995 and obtained efficient results. Schmidt discovered open-top megalithic structures without a residential purpose. These structures with no residential purposes were meant for religious and liturgical purposes. Examinations performed with the carbon-14 dat- ing method have indicated that the structures dated back 12 thousand years (9-10 thousand BCE) (Schmidt, 102-103). According to geomag- netic research, this group of structures consisting of twenty temples were erected on the basis of a certain arrangement. These are circular megalithic structures consisting of a twin T-shaped obelisk at the cen- ter and surrounding stones and wall. These stones were produced by carving limestone with a flintstone. Each obelisk weighs at least 40-50 tons and has a length of 4 to 6 meters. What is more interesting is that these limestones were brought to this site probably from a distance of 2 km. It is also interesting how the temples survived to this date. This is because it would be expected for this group of structures dating back 12 thousand years to have suffered significant deformation. However, some of this group of structures remained intact up to the present. While some of the temples were covered up due to natural phenome- na such as air and erosion, the rest were buried by human hand using hundreds of cubic meters of stone, soil and similar materials approx- imately one thousand years after their construction (Schmidt, 258). In other words, humans buried by hand the temples that they had built again by their hands. It is possible to speculate as to why Göbekli Tepe humans acted this way by referring to potential scenarios such as forced migration, anticipated natural phenomena, climate change, state of war, hunger or famine. The common point in all possible scenarios appears to be an ominous incident that they expected to happen for sure. This can be either a war or a natural disaster. Another possible reason might be the intention to conceal concrete structures representing their be- lies due to a fear of suffering oppression on account of their beliefs. For instance, the Mayans, one of the civilizations that flourished in America, suffered the same fate. The Mayans were advanced enough Ruh Ölüm ve Ötesi 163 in astronomy to determine the solar year and they worshiped celes- tial bodies.